Cases: Family Law

  Parties’ Bargain Prevailed, With Fees Only Relating To Litigation To Two Specific Motions—Sweeping Away Prior Sanctions Awards.      Family law practitioners should read In re Marriage of Reed, Case Nos. B253728/B255233 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Oct. 21, 2015) (unpublished). Briefly summarized, it held that a specific settlement agreement clause on fee recovery blunted any […]

  Limiting Expenses To Wife’s Trial Preparation Was Reasonable, Given Prior Activity In The Case.     Wife, the party who controlled the finances during her marriage with ex-husband, was sorely disappointed when the family law judge only awarded attorney’s fees for her trial preparation.  Her appeal of this discretionary decision was not successful in Marriage

  Husband Did Not Have Liquid Assets To Do This, So Installment Payment Was Needed.      In Marriage of Straw, Case No. C072933 (3d Dist. July 6, 2015) (unpublished), husband was ordered to pay Family Code section 2030 “needs based” fees of $40,000 to wife so she could either pay off her attorney or have

  However, Sanctions For Frivolous Appeal Denied, With Appellate Court Telling Both Sides To “Behave.”      In Marriage of Weiss, Case No. D065042 (4th Dist., Div. 1 June 22, 2015) (unpublished), husband was sanctioned for $22,500 in fees under Family Code section 271’s sanction statute, about one-third of wife’s request. Husband appealed it, but the

  $10,000 Award Not Supported By Substantial Evidence Or Shown To Be Reasonable.      Family Code section 7605(a) provides that a court must ensure equal access to legal representation in a child custody/visitation dispute, including an award of fees and costs, based on “the income and needs assessments.”      In Torres v. Cox, Case No.

  She Had Previously Been Awarded $3.127 Million In Fees.     This next case, authored by Justice Moore on behalf of a 3-0 panel, involves Nevada divorce proceedings relating to prenuptial, marital, and post-marital settlement agreements between Fletcher Jones, Jr. and his ex-wife Kimberly.  After Fletcher had previously paid about $3.127 million of her divorce